Grass doesn't make a Good Snowman

And so we are halfway through Winter and we are still waiting for some real snow. I don't love the cold but I do love the experience of at least one good snow storm each year. There is a beauty to that white blanket as it falls and silences the world for a short time. There is a purpose in digging out and a thrill in bundling up and playing. And snow is the ever valid excuse for hot chocolate. This year though, it has been an unseasonably warm.

At Christmas we randomly sang "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" and Bridget felt robbed when I had to explain that it was not going to be white in Baltimore. "Then why do we have a snowman bucket" she said. The bucket of snowman accessories still sits in our living room, waiting to be put to use. We headed into January and the girls, Bridget especially, were hoping for snow. We were driving to ballet class and as Bridget looked out the window at the dull winter landscape, she tells me "It needs to snow! Grass doesn't make a good snowman."

At the end of January we awoke one Saturday morning to a small white layer covering everything. The Saturday events were canceled because of icy roads so we had a free morning to play in the snow. We bundled up and happily headed outside. Bridget walked out into the yard, turned back to me and declared "This isn't snow. It's ice! It's crunchy!" She was right. The snow we did get was followed by freezing rain and it's whiteness was deceptive. I couldn't shovel it. I had to chip it and scrape it off the sidewalk. The girls couldn't pack it into a snowball or do snow angels. But it was slippery, so the big girls got sleds out and slid down the sidewalk. The 3 big girls went one street over to go down the bigger hill. After a few runs though Megs fell and banged her knee. Em and Rae couldn't get her to walk back so Rachael got all of the sleds and came back to get me. Emma stayed with her until I arrived and we carried her home together. I was glad they had each other.

So far that was our only snow that stuck. We got huge flakes yesterday but it didn't amount to anything. They are still waiting and dreaming of making snowmen.